Improvement in casks, barrels



' Nrr 'raras PATENT JOSHUA MERRILL, OF OSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 5,i50, dated October 2, 1865.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOSHUA l\IEnRILL,ot`the city of Boston in the county ofSuftolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Gasks, Barrels, and Kegs suitable forholdin g and transportin g liquids and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and correct description thereof, referencebein g had to the annexed drawings, making a part ot' this specification, and to the letters orn reference thereon.

My invention consists of several improvements, whereby casks, barrels, and kegs used to hold and transport liquids are more effectually protected from leakage at the joints than casks, barrels, and kcgs made with the wellknown plain and flagged joints commonly used:

First, in a lapped-jointed cask, barrel, or keg, substantally as herein described, the lapped joints,co.isistingofalipand rabbetformed upon the joints of the st-aves and head-pieces (if the heads be made of more than one piece) by rabbeting said staves and head-pieces, and in contradistinction from the tongued and grooved joint ot the improved casks for which Letters Patent of the United States were granted to me, bearing date the 29th day ot May A. D. 1866. Second, in combining, with the joints of a lap-jointed Cask glue or other similar gelatinous cement, applied to said joints betore the eask is put together, whereby thelappcd joints when driven up are cemented lirmly together and rendered more secure against the leakage of petroleum, alcohol, a-nd other similar tluids, resisted by glue or gelatinous cements. Third,in combiniugwith the joints of a lap ped-j ointed cask a cementof shellac, rosin, or other similar resinous cement, applied to the lapped joints before the cask is put together, whereby the lapped joints are rendered more secure against leakage of beer, molasses, or other watery iiuids, which such resinous cements resist. Y

But more particularly to describe my invention, I will refer to the drawings, of which Figure l is a'top view of the cask; Fig. 2, a cross-section Fig. 3, a vertical section through the heads and staves, and Fig. 4 a section of a stave.

The staves c are each made with a lip, b, and rabbet c at each joint, as shown in the drawings, so that the lips and rabbets of the joints of one stave make lapped joints with the lips and rabbets ot the next staves.

The heads d, when made in pieces, are also jointed by alip, c, and rabbetf. Dowel-pins g may also be used, as usual, in putting the headpieces together. i

The staves may be made in the ordinary way, and rabbeted after they are plane-jointed, either by a rabbetin'g-plane or by machinery which I have devised,and which will form the subject-matter of another application for a patent. But the easks may be made sufficiently well by steaming the stares, bending them by rollers, and plane-joiuting them by machinery, prior to rabbeting them, as practiced in large cooperages.

Although the staves so jointed make a tighter cask, barrel, or keg than plane-joints, 1 prefer to cement the lapped joints by cement applied to the joints before the eask is put together, so that the driving up of the hoops squeezes the cement into the pores of the joints which, while affording security from leakage, imparts great strength to the cask.

When the casks are to be used for holding and transporting petroleum, alcohol, and tluids that do not dissolve glue or other gelatinous cements, I apply a solution of hot glue to thejoints, by dipping, or with a brush, just before setting up the casks. i When the staves are properly made and jointed,l there is very little diieulty in t-russin g the cask before the glue sets, especially when the staves have been bent by machinery. v

When the casks, ba-rrels, or kegs are to hold and transport beer, molasses, or other watery liquids, I cement the lapped joints together with shellac or rosin, or other suitable resinous substances.

In making the shellac solution, I prefer to mix together,i in about equal proportions, al cohol ninetyve per cent. and coal-tar, ben- Zole, or naphtha, of about 320 Baume, and to one pint of this mixture I putin a pound to a pound and a halfof common gum-shellac. This makes a good thick varnish, and does not dry so rapidly as shellac dissolved in alcohol alone, thus giving more time to set up the eask after the cement is applied to the joints. Shellac will, however', answer, if dissolved either in alcohol or caustic ammonia.

yRosiueement may be made by dissolving,

rien;

in a pint of common naphtha, one and a-half pound of the rosin of commerce; or gum-dammar will answery as well.

The casks made as above described may be coated inside by a coating of glue or shellac, according to the liquid the cask is designed for. The coating of the inside is well cask, substantially as described, having lapped joints formed by a lip and rabbet, substantially in the way and for the purposes described.

2. In combination with the lapped joints of lapped -jointed casks, substantially as described, a coating or stuffing of glue, or similar gelatinous cement, applied to the lapped joints, substantially as described, whereby said joints are firmly glued or cemented together.

3. AIn combination with the lapped joints of lapped -jointed' casks, substantially as described, a coating or stuiiing of shellac, rosin, or other similar resinous cement, applied to the lapped joints, substantially as described, whereby the lapped joints are more securely protected against leakage.

JOSHUA MERRILL. Witnesses:

THEoDoRE M. PLIMPTON, GEORGE H. Fos'rER. 

